Rome Sweet Rome

This weekend we planned a spur of the moment trip to Barcelona, Spain.  Unfortunately, since it was such short notice, I didn't get to see my friend Chris who is studying in Barcelona, because he was away on a school planned trip to Madrid.  Overall thoughts on Barcelona...WILD.  From the nightlife to the food, everything is crazy!

Day 1:

We left on Friday night to head out to Barcelona.  Sometimes out weekends are short, so we try and make the most of our time.  We all left straight from Italiaidea (our intensive Italian class).  Two people left at 6:30 p.m. and took a shuttle, while the rest of us left at 7:00 p.m. and drove with Kaleigh's host mom Pat.  We arrived at the airport, met up with our group, and headed on our way!  Adios!  We flew with Ryan Air, where the seats are first come first serve.  Luckily, however, we reserved seats in the exit roll for only a few dollars more.  So worth it!  Hour and a half later and we arrived in Barcelona at 12:30 p.m..  When we hit the ground, the plan blasted the baseball charge song.  Hard to type out...Ba Da Da Na Da Na CHARGE!  Then everyone started clapping.  Very reassuring.  Once we arrived at the airport, we had a shuttle waiting for us to take us to our apartment.  

                  

Our Apartment.

Shortly after, we arrived, dropped off our stuff and headed out to dinner.  Apparently midnight is the prime dinner hour in Spain.  My friend said they ate late, but I didn't believe it until I experienced it.  Dinner was another interesting experience.  Their main food here is Tapas (assorted appetizers), but with an odd twist.  They serve normal dinner items, but then they add a random side ingredient.  After dinner we headed back to our apartment, (which was absolutely adorable), and called it a night.  There were 99 stairs to get to our attic apartment right off of Las Ramblas Street.  So many stairs!  Is Europe trying to tell me something?

Sagrada Familia

Day 2:

Lauren and I got up early to go grocery shopping for food for the weekend.  Unfortunately it was raining extremely hard.  (The first rain we have had all trip, so I can't complain).  We decided to chill in bed and head out when the rain let up.  No progress, so Lauren ran down the street and got the essentials, and I went back with her later to stock up on some more things.  After breakfast we walked around and all met up at Dunkin Donuts.  I ordered completely in Spanish, and although they speak Catalan here, I am still proud that I haven't lost my touch.  Afterwards we bought our Metro passes and headed to Sagrada Familia, one of Gaudi's most famous works.  We walked outside the Metro and there it was; you couldn't miss it!  

The church was absolutely beautiful; it looked almost like a sand castle.  The inside was equally as beautiful.  Unfortunately, since it was raining, we couldn't go to the top of the tower, but we did get audio headsets to learn all about the church. The church was started in the late 1800's by Antonio Gaudi, and it is still being worked on today.  Inside, this church is architecturally unlike any church I have seen before.  From its use of color, to the window shapes, and overall structure, it was absolutely stunning.  We spent almost 4 hrs inside the church.


Let me take you on a tour...

Above the Alter.

Crypt Church.

While in the church, we found someone to take a group photo for us, and ironically they were Americans teaching English in Madrid.  They were super sweet.  We told them that Kaleigh and I wanted to be a teacher abroad and they gave us their information and said that if we were ever in Madrid we had a place to stay.  After, we headed to lunch, and I had my first experience with KFC.  What I thought was a good experience ended badly.  Aaron eventually got very sick and Kaleigh and I didn't feel good as well.  We went back to our apartment and had a siesta...like a fiesta, but with sleep.  I am not one for short naps, so instead I watched "Finding Neverland" in Catalan.  It was just as good in another language.  I put the Catalan subtitles on to help me translate faster.  After the siesta, we went to the beach (La Barceloneta) in search for IceBarcelona (an ice bar near the beach).  We had no luck finding it, so we decided to just sit down and have dinner.  We searched everywhere along the harbor and finally decided on a small place called Martini's.  No one was feeling great, and they forgot Kaleigh's food, so dinner was kind of a bust.  Aaron decided to go for a walk to see if that would help him feel better.  A 30 minute walk later, and throwing up in a bush, Aaron came back with a huge smile on his face.  His first words, "I found the ice bar."  We left our dinner place and headed to the bar.  Included in your bar price was a drink, a jacket, and a pair of gloves.  We headed inside and we had an absolute blast!!

We couldn't stay long, because my fingers were so cold.  Inside it was extremely tiny.  There was a bar, a sculpture of Sagrada Familia, benches, and tables.  Everything was made out of ice...obviously.  Afterwards, we were on such a high that we decided to go to the beach.  After the beach, we headed to another bar and stayed there until 3:30 a.m..  Woof!  The crazy thing is, on our way back to our apartment it was almost 4:00 a.m. and people were still waiting to get into clubs.  Crazy.  I was ready to crash.  

The next day, Aaron and I planned on going on a hike; however, he still wasn't feeling well.  Once Lauren came back from Mass, we headed to the Picasso Museum.  On our way there I had an amazing piece of dark chocolate with rice crispies inside.  

We finished the museum in 45 minutes.  Then we went and met our other friends at Parc Guell.  We agreed to meet at 3:00 in front of the fountain.  Lauren and I waited, but we never saw them, so we decided to head up to the top.  The Mosaic work was so beautiful and the views were just as great!  We waited at the top for a while before heading up even further in hopes that we would find our missing friends.

We began to hike up higher along the park, and while climbing, we ran into an American couple who were teaching English in Florence.  Another America couple teaching abroad...I've always wanted to be a teacher abroad; this is a sign.  Turns out that the girl we met was from Bucks County and went to the same high school as my friend Andrew.  What a small world!  We continued on our hike and who was walking towards us, but our missing friends!  They were running late and got lost on their way to the park.  The six of us began to hike to the top of Parc Guell where the three crosses are located.  We finally made it to the top and we all were standing on this small rock over-looking the city.  Needless to say, the views were once again amazing.   I am not afraid of heights; however, I am afraid of falling off a cliff.  Getting down off the rock was scary, because the stones are so unstable and there is no railing to hold on to.  After the hike we went and got lunch and then headed back to our apartment to relax.  Lauren and I decided to go shopping at the street market and then headed down to the Harbor.  After, she met up with a friend for dinner and I went back to the apartment to sleep.

Day 3:
Wake up at 2:30 a.m. to get ready to head back to Rome.  Our flight wasn't until 6:15 a.m., but 3:00 a.m. was the only time the shuttle could pick us up.  Luckily, I made it through security pat-down free (unlike my arrival here).  This plane ride was one of the only times I have ever had motion sickness.  10:00 a.m. and we arrived in Rome.  All in all, I would say our second trip was a great success.  What was most interesting about this trip was that being in Barcelona made Rome feel like home.  I missed being in Rome.  On our way back to Rome, when we landed, the pilot said, "Welcome home..."

     "That...is Neverland"
            ~J.M. Barrie

Weekend In Florence

This past weekend myself and five friends took a  trip to Florence.  We had an absolute blast!  From the shopping, to the Duomo, to the stunning views, this trip was unforgettable.  Never have I laughed so hard!

The Gang before we left.

Our Train.

Florence!

We ended up renting an apartment right in the center of town.  It was a quaint apartment that ended up being cheaper than a hostel.  Minus hitting my head five times on the beams in my loft, the accommodations were great. 

Our Apartment.

Aaron Cheesing!

Aaron was too tall for our loft.

Keys are weird in Roma....Gotta test them out beforehand.

Day 1:

We arrived at around 10:00a.m..  We decided to drop our stuff off and then headed out towards the market.    On our way to the market, Aaron finally had his ah-ha I am studying abroad moment.  We headed towards the Market di Lorenza and began our excursion!  Kaleigh and Devon had their eyes on leather coats, while I was looking for a new scarf and a pair of boots.  We were in Florence, how could we not buy anything leather?!

 

Market di Lorenzo

While they were looking for leather jackets, Kaleigh and Devon were approached by Massimo. He took us to his store around the corner where he promised a special discount for students.  Massimo was such a car salesman.  Whatever you liked, he liked.  He agreed with whatever you said.  The best part of this sketchy situation...Massimo took a match to Kaleigh's coat to show her it was real leather.  A boat load of money later, and Kaleigh and Devon are now the proud owners of two of the finest leather coats I have ever seen!  After we went to the market, we visited the Duomo.  

The inside of the church was absolutely stunning.  While we were inside we got to light prayer candles.

After we went inside the Duomo, we headed to the fresh market to stock up on food for the weekend.

              



The rest of the day the group took a siesta, and I finished my art and architecture homework.  That night we wondered around the city, had dinner, and of course gelato!

Bike rack filled with locks from loved ones.

Day 2:

Today I got up much earlier than everyone else and decided to head back to the Market di Lorenzo to buy a few things.  I was a bit hesitant to leave everyone, but I knew no one wanted to watch me shop and it was nice walking around by myself.  I only intended to buy a scarf, but the deals were so good I ended up getting five....  I bought five scarves for 21 euro.  Not too bad if I do say so myself!  After the market, I went back to the apartment and we had a high protein breakfast, because we knew we would be hiking to the top of the Duomo.  300 unlevel steps later and we made it to the top.  The views from the Duomo were   

With my new camera lens I could see people walking on the hills.

 absolutely amazing!  

The best thing besides the beautiful view, was our experience coming down.  You go down the same narrow stairwell that you came up.  As we were approaching the stairs an Asian girl came up the stairs and let out the biggest groan possible and could not stop huffing anf puffing and laughing while attempting to say WOAH...I guess the stairs took it out of her too!  My friends, the Asian girl's friends, and I could not stop laughing!  On our way down the stairs a little boy was running up the narrow stairwell on all fours yelling, "I am a doggy.  Woof Woof."  The boys parents were no where in sight.  My friend Bill yells out, "Uh, where is his owner?"  Seeing the kid book it up the stairs on all fours as a dog as we struggled to keep our balance was the funniest thing!  After we went in the Duomo we went shopping and then headed to what we thought was Academia...

Replica of Michael Angelo's The David.

Even though it was closed, I still wanted a
picture of the sign saying I was there.

We walk inside the museum and nowhere does it say Academia, nor is there anything that discusses the David.  Then the light bulb clicked...Academia was on the other side of Florence.  It was already 4:30 p.m. on a Sunday, there was no way we were making it in time.  However, this was one of the only things I wanted to see in Italy, so if I had to run...I was gonna run!  Kaleigh was a trooper and she ran all the way across town with me and we eventually met up with the rest of the group shortly after.  We arrived at what we assumed was the entrance and it was closed.  I literally almost cried.  This was the only thing I wanted to see and I missed it.  After, the group decided to go back to the apartment for a late lunch.  I decided to just continue my search for boots.  As we were walking back, Kaleigh noticed something right around the corner....  Galleria Dell' Accademia...OPEN!  I literally almost started crying I was so happy.  We walked inside and I could not have been happier.  I knew ahead of time that you weren't allowed to take photos of the David, but I didn't know that about the rest of the museum.  Woops!

I illegally took this photo.  The woman in the museum saw the flash and flipped out, but not on me.  She started freaking out on a man across the room holding a cell phone.  Apparently, they have a stronger flash than my Nikon DSLR.  He tried to argue that it wasn't him, so she began to yell at another woman holding a camera.  That was my cue to get out of there and head for the David!  I finally got to see him and it was so cool!  Well worth the heartache of almost not being able to see it!  Afterward, I went boot shopping and had no luck.  I headed home and I found one last store near our apartment.  I said, "Why not, can't hurt."  I walked inside tried on probably the 100th pair that day of black leather boots and finally found the pair that fit the criteria of exactly what I was looking for.  I was thrilled.  Later in the night, we went to an American bar and watched the Pats game.  We didn't find this out until after, but apprently this bar was the one that the cast of Jersey Shore hung out at when they were in Florence.

Day 3:
We got up at 6:30 a.m. and headed to the train station near our apartment to catch a taxi to the other train station across town.  For some reason you arrive and depart from different stations....weird Italians.  We get to the train station and find out the taxis are on strike.  Shocker.  Our only other option is to walk.  3.6 miles later and we just make it to our train.  What an absolutely amazing weekend!

     "In the end, what really matters is not the moment of occurrence, but how it's just a part of our memory.  Every day we make memories.  Let's paint our lives with happy ones."

                   ~Anonymous